The Dark Side of Targeted Ads: Deception in Plain Sight The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that Cox Media Group and two other marketing companies have settled allegations of deceptive practices for nearly $1 million.
These companies used misleading tactics to sell their Active Listening service, which claimed to collect consumers' conversations from various smart devices and target ads based on location and personal data.
However, according to the FTC's complaints, none of this was true. Instead, Cox Media Group and the other companies were reselling consumer email lists at inflated prices.